81 FR 55182 - The Incentives, Benefits, Costs, and Challenges to IPv6 Implementation

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 160 (August 18, 2016)

Recognizing the exhaustion of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address space and the imperative for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) implementation and use, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is seeking input to guide NTIA in future IPv6 promotional activities. Through this Notice, NTIA invites adopters and implementers of IPv6 as well as any other interested stakeholders to share information on the benefits, costs, and challenges they have experienced, as well as any insight into additional incentives that could aid future adoption, implementation, and support of IPv6. After analyzing the comments, the Department intends to aggregate input received into a report that will be used to inform domestic and global efforts focused on IPv6 promotion, including any potential NTIA initiatives.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 160 (Thursday, August 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55182-55183]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-19722]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket No. 160810714-6714-01]
RIN 0660-XC029


The Incentives, Benefits, Costs, and Challenges to IPv6 
Implementation

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice, request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: Recognizing the exhaustion of Internet Protocol version 4 
(IPv4) address space and the imperative for Internet Protocol version 6 
(IPv6) implementation and use, the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration (NTIA) is seeking input to guide NTIA in 
future IPv6 promotional activities. Through this Notice, NTIA invites 
adopters and implementers of IPv6 as well as any other interested 
stakeholders to share information on the benefits, costs, and 
challenges they have experienced, as well as any insight into 
additional incentives that could aid future adoption, implementation, 
and support of IPv6. After analyzing the comments, the Department 
intends to aggregate input received into a report that will be used to 
inform domestic and global efforts focused on IPv6 promotion, including 
any potential NTIA initiatives.

DATES: Comments are due on or before 5 p.m. Eastern Time on October 3, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by email to 
[email protected]. Comments submitted by email should be machine-
readable and should not be copy-protected. Written comments also may be 
submitted by mail to the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Room 4725, Attn: IPv6 RFC 2016, Washington, DC 20230. Responders 
should include the name of the person or organization filing the 
comment, as well as a page number on each page of the submission. All 
comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be 
posted to https://www.ntia.doc.gov/federal-register-notice/2016/incentives-benefits-costs-and-challenges-ipv6-implementation without 
change. All personal identifying information (for example, name, 
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Please do not submit business information that is 
confidential or otherwise protected. NTIA will accept anonymous 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashley Heineman, National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4701, Washington, DC 
20230; telephone (202) 482-0298; email [email protected]. Please 
direct media inquiries to NTIA's Office of Public Affairs, (202) 482-
7002 or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: NTIA regularly seeks public input to help guide future 
action and policy decisions that address today's critical 
communications and technology issues. In this notice, NTIA seeks input 
concerning the adoption and deployment of Internet Protocol version 6 
(IPv6). Every device that connects to the Internet requires an IP 
address. However, the tremendous demand for Internet connections has, 
for all intents and purposes, exhausted the supply of IP addresses 
available under the legacy Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) system. 
IPv6 is the next-generation protocol which provides an identification 
and location system for computers on networks, and which routes traffic 
across the Internet.
    The transition to IPv6, which was designed to expand the number of 
IP addresses, is critical for the continued, sustainable growth of the 
Internet. While IPv4 provides nearly 4.3 billion IP addresses, IPv6 
offers 2\128\ (or 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 
IP addresses), a number more able to meet the rising demand for 
Internet connections and to support the expanding Internet of Things. 
This demand will continue to grow as more devices come online.
    Even during the relatively early days of the Internet, its 
exponential growth soon exposed the limitations of IPv4. Once the 
Internet technical community realized in the early 1990s that there 
would be a shortage of IP addresses, the Internet Engineering Task 
Force began developing a new protocol to expand the Internet address 
space. The first specification of the IPv6 standard was published in 
1995 and an updated draft followed closely thereafter in 1998.\1\ 
Despite the long history of IPv6, today only 32 percent of the Internet 
services in the United States are IPv6 capable.\2\ While the IPv6 
adoption rate in the United States is growing at a quicker pace than in 
the past, companies and other organizations that have yet to plan for 
IPv6 should begin implementation now rather than later, in order to lay 
a solid foundation for the future of our digital economy.
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    \1\ See ``Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification,'' 
December 1998, available at: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2460.
    \2\ According to measurements conducted by the Asia Pacific 
Network Information Center, available at: https://stats.labs.apnic.net/ipv6/.
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    NTIA IPv6 Promotional Efforts: NTIA is already engaged in IPv6 
promotional efforts. NTIA held a public workshop on IPv6 in 2010, and 
in 2011 developed the IPv6 Readiness Tool for Businesses, a 
comprehensive checklist for businesses preparing to deploy IPv6.\3\ 
NTIA also joined a number of private and public organizations in 2011 
for the Internet

[[Page 55183]]

Society's World IPv6 Day to test the IPv6 functionality of Web sites 
and services.
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    \3\ NTIA also coauthored a study with the National Institute for 
Standards and Technology in 2006, entitled ``A Technical and 
Economic Assessment of IPv6.'' These and other resources are listed 
on the ``Additional IPv6 Resources'' page on NTIA's Web site, 
available at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/page/additional-ipv6-resources.
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    Moving forward, NTIA intends to engage more directly in promoting 
IPv6 deployment and use, with a particular focus on implementation. To 
assist in this purpose, NTIA is asking those who have implemented IPv6 
to share their experiences and to highlight in particular the factors 
and circumstances that supported their decision to move ahead and adopt 
the protocol. NTIA hopes to utilize input received through this request 
for comments to guide and inform future promotion efforts, including 
the IPv6 Best Practice Forum being organized for the 2016 Internet 
Governance Forum, which will be held in December 2016, in Guadalajara, 
Mexico.\4\
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    \4\ Internet Governance Forum 2016, available at: http://www.igf2016.mx/.
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Request for Comment

    NTIA invites comment on the following questions, in whole or in 
part:

Benefits

    1. What are the benefits of implementing IPv6? For example, what 
are the direct performance benefits of implementing IPv6 for end users, 
or for enhanced network security, as compared to IPv4?
    2. What are the expected or unexpected benefits of implementing 
IPv6?

Obstacles

    1. What are the biggest obstacles related to IPv6 implementation? 
For example, is it difficult to access adequate vendor support for IPv6 
hardware and/or software? Does successful implementation depend 
directly on another service provider?
    2. How does an organization overcome those obstacles?

Incentives

    1. What factors contribute to an organization's decision to 
implement IPv6?
    2. What additional incentives would be helpful in a decision to 
implement IPv6?
    3. If one factor made the crucial difference in deciding to 
implement IPv6, as opposed to not implementing IPv6, what is that 
factor?

Motivation

    1. What is typically the driving motivation behind an 
organization's decision to implement IPv6?
    2. What are the job titles and/or roles of the people within an 
organization typically involved in a decision to implement IPv6? What 
are those individuals' primary motivations when it comes to 
implementing IPv6?

Return on Investment

    1. What is the anticipated return on an IPv6-related investment? 
How quickly is a return on investment expected?
    2. Is return on investment a reason to implement IPv6, or is 
implementation considered a cost of doing business?

Implementation

    1. How long does the planning process for IPv6 implementation take?
    2. How long does actual implementation of IPv6 typically take? Is 
implementation a single event or evolutionary?

Cost of Implementation

    1. What are the different types of costs involved in implementing 
IPv6? What are the typical magnitudes of each type of cost?
    2. How does an organization cover those costs?
    3. How does an organization justify those costs?
    4. What considerations are there for cost-saving?
    5. What implication does the size of an organization implementing 
IPv6 have on cost?

Promotional Efforts

    1. What promotional efforts, if any, should NTIA take? What would 
have the most impact?
    2. What promotional efforts, if any, are being led by the private 
sector? Have they been effective?
    3. Which additional stakeholders should NTIA target? What is the 
most effective forum?
    4. Should NTIA partner with any particular stakeholder group?
    Additional Issues: NTIA invites commenters to provide any 
additional information on other issues not identified in this RFC that 
could contribute to NTIA's understanding of the considerations that 
organizations take into account when deciding to proceed with IPv6 
implementation, as well as future IPv6 promotional efforts that NTIA 
may undertake.

    Dated: August 15, 2016.
Angela M. Simpson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information.
[FR Doc. 2016-19722 Filed 8-17-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-60-P